An Imperial Affliction By Peter Van Houten

"I, Ortega Blackwood, daughter of beta Denzel Blackwood, am rejecting you, Killian Fitzgerald, future Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, as my fated mate!" She uttered through gritted teeth, glaring fiercely at her mate as he descended the stairs towards her. His expression twisted into a mask of fury, his eyes blazing with an intensity that sent shivers down her spine. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, his imposing figure cast a shadow over her as she lay on the ground, vulnerable yet defiant. "Do you dare defy me, Ortega? Do you dare reject your fate?" His voice dripped with venom, each word carrying a threat that hung heavily in the air. "You cannot reject me, Ortega. You will be my mate whether you like it or not." ************** Rejecting her mate hadn't been easy. But when Ortega meets the powerful and ruthless Lycan and Mafia Boss, Alfredo Gambino, she finds herself falling in love with him, even though he is the rival and enemy of her rejected mate. And Alfredo also finds himself unwilling to let her go, especially now that her rejected mate wants her back.

Riana and Reynald's relationship was never liked by Mayang, the in-laws. Moreover, five years of marriage, Riana is not pregnant yet. The woman did not know that Riana only obeyed Reynald's request. So, various ways were done by the in-laws to separate the two, including finding a second wife for Reynald. Riana thought that her husband would be firm in her feelings, but Reynald turned out to be changing and acting rough. When he was desperate to finish separating, Riana suddenly met a handsome mysterious man who turned out to be a CEO! The man offered him a protection. Will Riana accept it?

At 11:00 pm, I've just locked my car and am about to walk away when rows of bright red comments appear right in front of my eyes. "Warning! Your husband, whom you're still in a 30-day cooling-off period with, wants to kidnap you! He'll take nudes of you while livestreaming the entire process before mutilating you into chunks and flushing you down the sewers!" "Well, this gold digger keeps swindling money from her husband while toying with his feelings relentlessly. Now, she even wants a portion of his assets by getting a divorce from him. Serves her right for being a target of revenge!" I'm left feeling shell-shocked. After all, I'm single as a Pringle. How the heck did I even have a husband, to begin with?

My in-laws, who have flown back to the country for the Christmas holidays, visit my home on Christmas Eve for dinner. But Selena Collins, the housekeeper, has only prepared two plates of cold shrimp ravioli despite the fact that I've specifically reminded her about my mother-in-law, Lora Fischer's allergy to shrimps. Selena just tells me in a stoic manner, "Mrs. Peterson, I know that you country bumpkins love taking advantage of everything. So, I completely understand that your parents want to mooch off a meal from the Peterson family during the holidays. "But as Mr. Peterson's most caring housekeeper, I have the right to protect the Petersons' assets from getting leeched by outsiders. Yes, this includes a regular meal. "Then again, I have a heart of gold, you see. I won't starve the elders at all. These are leftover shrimp ravioli from last year. Your parents should hurry up and leave after polishing the ravioli off. "Mr. Peterson is very busy with his work. I can't let him deal with your impoverished parents after getting home from a stressful day at work." I'm stunned at first, but I soon realize that Selena has mistaken my in-laws for my parents. She's purposefully causing me trouble as always. I'm about to explain the truth to Selena when I see my enraged in-laws turning to leave. But Selena wastes no time in calling the bodyguards over to stop them. "I completely understand that country bumpkins like you two have poor character, but wasting food is a really bad trait. "Since the shrimp ravioli is already prepared for you, please finish them all before leaving."

My sister pulled a knife during a robbery attempt, and we got into a brutal fight. My mom, an auxiliary police officer, arrived at the scene but totally ignored my injury. As I lay in a pool of blood, begging for help, she just cradled my sister and yelled at me, "You're so desperate for attention that you'd hurt your sister? How did I raise a heartless monster like you?" She branded me as the aggressor, ignored my pleas, and rushed my sister, who had mere scratches, to the hospital. I was left alone to die miserably in that deserted alley. When the news of my death arrived, my mother dismissed it as another one of my lies, pointing at my body and demanding I get up to apologize to my sister.

They say she stole her sister's mate. But she was his Luna and he was supposed to Love her. Instead, she is betrayed by a man she trusted, forced to watch her sister take what was hers. Diana is broken, rumored to turn insane from grief. However, Under the light of the next full moon, The Lycan finds her- claiming her with a hunger that burns through her grief. Desire, danger and destiny collide as Diana discovers a bond she never expected and a love that refuses to let her go.

“Sir, the new student got into trouble in class ! They asked you to come !” I pulled a long face while my Lycan gritted out in my mind. “That’s our mate, punk !” Ever had the shock of your life that the man you hate the most on the first day of college is your foxy hot, male professor and surprise, surprise, surprise- your roommate too ?! Add to it that he does NOT belong to the human world ! Amidst bitter pasts and complicated relationships is the added fear of the Dark Overlord, who is hell-bent on destroying the entire supernatural world as well as the human world. Will the roommates get their act together and finally be one with one another ? Will human laws allow the student-teacher relationship to bloom into a satisfying romance ? Will the last surviving Lycan in the human world be able to avenge the death of its pure blood Lycan pack ? And finally, will the Lycan race survive at all?

“Oh God…” she moaned, arching into him as his lips branded a trail along her collarbone. She fumbled with his buttons, tearing open the last of them. Her hands caressed the expanse of his bare chest, every inch as firm and sculpted as she'd fantasized since that absurd, embarrassing moment he’d walked in on her naked on her very first day in Terra Lucida. His abs twitched beneath her fingers, taut and hot to the touch, like he was barely holding himself back. Elias let out a shuddering breath as his lips grazed her shoulder, trailing slowly down. He pulled the thin straps of her nightdress down, kissing each newly revealed inch of skin. Trapped in a strange world where people ride carriages instead of Ubers. Lyra Beckham is horrified to learn she is the spitting image of a missing (possibly dead) woman named Lirae - who also happens to be the secret lover of a dangerously brooding prince named Elias. But things get messier when Lyra discovers Elias was the main suspect in Lirae's mysterious disappearance. She desperately plans to find a way back to her own earth before she ends up 'missing' too. Elias proposes that Lira pretend to be Lirae long enough for him to uncover what really happened. In return, he will help her find her way back home. Sounds simple right? But then, they had to fake an engagement that was quickly starting to become real. But when they stumble upon the truth, they realise that the only way out... is together.

On the night of her eighteenth birthday, Zara Ashlen expected to be chosen. Instead, Damon Wells the Alpha she was fated to love rejected her in front of the entire pack. No reason. No apology. Just cold, certain words that tore the bond from her chest and left her with nothing. So she ran. Five years later, Zara has built a quiet life far from pack territory. A job. An apartment. A daughter she would burn the world down to protect. She doesn't think about the bond anymore. She doesn't think about Damon. She almost believes she's free. Then the summons arrives a mandatory pack summit she cannot refuse and Zara is dragged back into the world she escaped. But something is different this time. Something ancient and unstoppable stirs the moment she walks into that room. And it has nothing to do with Damon. Kael Drevon is the Lycan King. Ruthless. Untouchable. A man who has never once failed to take what he wants. He has spent years waiting for a mate the bond refused to show him. Until now. Until her. Zara has no intention of belonging to another Alpha not after what the last one cost her. But Kael didn't build a kingdom by accepting no. And the closer he gets, the more she realizes her daughter's rare blood has made them both a target. Running once saved her life. This time, her only chance at survival might be the King she's desperately trying to resist.

"You're too weak to be my Luna." Those were the words that shattered Erin Arckwight's world. Rejected publicly by her mate - the Alpha of her own pack - she did what any broken wolf would do. She ran straight into the Forbidden Forest, the one place most wolves never venture into. But what most people do not know is that the Forbidden Forest doesn't break you. It remakes you. When Erin descends into the feral state that all werewolves fear, she doesn't lose herself. Instead, she awakens an ancient power that's been sleeping in her bloodline for three thousand years. And she's not alone. Kade Thornhart, the scarred and dangerous leader of the feral pack, doesn't trust the stubborn, sarcastic girl who stumbles into his territory. But he can't deny the fire in her amber eyes or the way his wolf claims her as his. She was rejected by an Alpha. Now she'll be claimed by something far more dangerous.